(Trois-Rivières) The Trois-Rivières Lions announced the extension of their affiliation agreement with the Montreal Canadiens organization for three years, Wednesday afternoon.
The announcement was made during a press conference held at the Colisée Videotron, the home of the Lions in the ECHL.
The new owner of the Lions, Jeff Dickerson, was on hand for the occasion, as were the general manager of the Laval Rocket, John Sedgwick, and his head coach, Jean-François Houle.
Last April, the ECHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the Trois-Rivières Lions to the Spire Hockey group.
Spire Hockey, which notably belongs to Dickerson, purchased the franchise from the Deacon Sports and Entertainment (DSE) group, which also owned the defunct Newfoundland Growlers in the ECHL. The new owners had already indicated that they intended to keep the Lions, now the only Canadian concession in the ECHL, in Trois-Rivières.
The league had set April 2 as the deadline for DSE to divest itself of its interests in the two concessions.
DSE indicated in a press release after the deadline expired that only one potential buyer had been met for the Lions. The ECHL had at the same time put an end to the Growlers’ operations “for failure to fulfill its obligations under the ECHL regulations”.
The Lions are now part of a trio of ECHL teams –– along with the Swamp Rabbits of Greenville, South Carolina, and the Rush of Rapid City, South Dakota – owned by Spire Hockey.
Spire Hockey is a branch of Spire Holdings, which also owns three cars in the NASCAR Cup Series and several other cars in the NASCAR series reserved for trucks.
The Lions entered the ECHL during the 2021-22 season. The Trois-Rivières team is affiliated with the Laval Rocket (AHL) and the Montreal Canadiens (NHL).